


Brief Minutes Tell

by StudioRat



Series: Nor Shall Death Brag [4]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel
Genre: Adventure, All the canon characters live, Background Relationships, Canon-Typical Magic, Canon-Typical Violence, Foreshadowing, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Inspired by a Trailer, It's not Zelda OK, Link is Sir Not Appearing In This Fic, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Prompt Fic, Prophecy, Reincarnation, SHE LIVES, Slow To Update, So here we are, Tags May Change, The one who dies is important to plot, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, and I don't want to accidental trigger, ok so regarding the death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21591997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StudioRat/pseuds/StudioRat
Summary: The infamous, unpredictable warrior known as Link has vanished, said to have perished somewhere in the depths of the cave system connecting the Faron uplands to the Gerudo highlands.His young widow travels across Old Hyrule and the lands of her allies with a team of fellow scientists and adventurers, conducting intensive research into Hyrule's storied past - and the supernatural phenomena of her present. Every year, she travels back to Faron to pray for her husband.On the way, she always stops at the great plateau to hold private vigil: they say she lights candles and prays to and for her ancestors in the ruins of the ancient Temple of Time.This time, she returns from the desolate ruins with a stranger at her side.- - -You know what we should absolutely do during NaNoWriMo, because We Are Intelligent?Write Blupees.Yes.Direct sequel toNaught So Vile
Series: Nor Shall Death Brag [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1425928
Comments: 15
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,  
> Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,  
> Or say with princes if it shall go well

His name was Charles Ashe.

He wasn’t always a Charles, and the only ash about his birth name lay on the altar where he burned the last inscription of it, but it wouldn’t do to think such things too loud. One never knew, in the presence of a Sacred Maiden, just how far her powers might reach. A century ago, the last Zelda of pure royal blood died at the beginning of the brief reign of the Malice other people called Calamity Ganon. History said she was barely a month over seventeen at the dawn of the coup, and a maiden.

History  _ also _ said she was followed day and night by her comely champion.

Scandals in important families get buried with neither ceremony nor stone, but magic never did care about mortal laws or marriage vows. The great-granddaughter of the Crown Princess of Old Hyrule was a true heir to the magic of her motherline, howsoever immodest.

Charles was glad the Boss wasn’t interested in her death yet. Zelda was nice.

Zelda was  _ also _ returning early from her seasonal vigil over her ancestors’ bones on the Great Plateau. Charles waved to her as she emerged from the shadows of the tenuously braced arch over the ruined processional stair. She saluted in return, once, curt as always. She did not like ceremony in anything. A waste of energy, she said.

Charles climbed down from the rough walls of Gatepost Town to signal the others camped in the quadrangle of a half-dismantled antique barracks. Morning light sparkled on his curved blade. The blue ribbons on the hilt were ugly, but blue was her color, and so they all adopted it, in love and respect. Granté flourished his Serpentine Spear in return, moving at once to stoke the breakfast fire again. She was brilliant, this Zelda, a bold explorer, and devoted woman of science, but she was not the most reliable about remembering to eat.

Most of the others followed her for the adventure of it, or in sympathy for the unexpected loss of her husband, or for the romance of guarding a beautiful woman from the many dangers of the wild, or for her vision for a new style of law she called  _ federation _ . 

Charles followed because she paid well for the skill of a traveling smith, and he followed because her late husband was believed by many to have been the reincarnated Hero of Legend. The Boss was intensely interested in  _ that _ rumor - and in Zelda’s uncharacteristically irrational belief that he was only lost, not dead.

She was determined in every other matter to bind the ineffable with science. Unlike her great-grandmother, her interest in ancient machinery was tangential at best. She funded research and development of new technology, sometimes using ancient materials, but she was most emphatic that the original machines had been lost for a reason, and the sins of Old Hyrule must not be repeated. Her fierce vision radiated from her even in her sleep.

Charles sheathed his blade with a smile, opening the gatehouse door as Teba took flight. Zelda did not seem to notice him winging toward her, but this was not uncommon. Her sharp mind rarely permitted rest, and she was forever muttering to herself. Yet this morning she seemed to be talking to someone else. Someone behind her. Someone with brown skin, and the golden shaft of a Gerudo spear tapping the step below their golden sandals.

Charles drew his eating knife to pare his nails as he strolled through the dappled shade of the wild grove. He pricked his thumb -  _ quite _ by accident of course - and blotted the few stray drops with a scrap of rice paper - which  _ certainly _ hadn’t any writing on it - which he cast away into some worthless scrubby weeds a moment later - where it  _ obviously _ didn’t spark and burn away to activate any spells. Gerudo warriors were not interested in benefits of doubts, and they had a decidedly inconvenient habit of reading one’s intentions no sooner than one became aware of them oneself. They also tended to stab suspicious persons first and ask questions after.

A Yiga who makes mistakes is a Yiga who is not a Yiga very long.

Charles plucked a tart summer apple as he reached the edge of grove and ancient road. He polished it on his sleeve, watching the stranger follow Zelda down the ruined stair. She was enormous, every inch as terrifying as Bulliara, whom Charles prayed most devoutly he need never again meet, even if certain parts of his anatomy disagreed.

She was also half naked.

Zelda didn’t seem conscious of this, but this surprised him not at all. In the two years he’d followed her, she lived chaste as a Sheikah hermit and missed more than two-thirds of the bawdy jokes and innuendos said in her hearing. Most people cleaned up their language around her without even thinking about it, though she could and would utter the foulest curses when her research disappointed her in some way.

Teba circled above, and did not land.

A bad sign. 

Charles tossed the apple from hand to hand, limbering his wrists for the chance of a confrontation, maintaining his artless, affable smile as he called to her. “A blessed morning to you ladyface. Got all your candles lit?”

“Oh good - Ashe. Will you run ahead and ask Grante to buy some more eggs? Also ask how much ready sole leather Nevarre has,” she said, turning to the stranger to speak more quietly. “Landing, three. No gravel here.”

Charles watched the stranger tap the stone landing with her spear ahead of her step. Her fiery hair draped over her shoulders, bound in heavy plaits wrapped with blue ribbon. She wore a shawl of bright red and gold silk slung low on her hips over a long kilt of dark wool, and every part of her draped with unusual golden ornaments. “Sure will. He’s already got a skillet going for you. An apple for your friend while we add another place to the table?”

“That won’t be needed, Ashe. Thank you. Eighteen, fourth down is cracked, edge missing a hand’s worth of facing - my hand, not yours.”

“An apple does sound refreshing,” rumbled the deep-voiced stranger, descending with unhurried grace. Tap, step, tap, step. She did not gaze at the stair below, and not once did she falter or misstep. The golden hilt of a Gerudo claymore peeked over her shoulder. “Introduce me to your shrewd little friend, bluebird.”

“You must not be terribly interested in breakfast. Last three to the landing,” countered Zelda.

“On the contrary. I am  _ ravenous _ ,” she rumbled, flashing a bright and wicked grin, her cloudy golden eyes pinning Charles to the dirt. “Come closer, little shrew, and let me taste you.”

Charles dropped the apple.

Zelda broke the spell, boldly slapping her companion’s arm. “You will  _ not _ , lech. Food and proper shoes  _ first _ . Seduce the smith later. Last step to the road - hmm. Two or three steps in height? It’s hard to judge, with all this weedy bindgrass cluttering the verge.”

“Hn,” said the stranger. With a snap of her fingers, lightning leapt from nowhere to crack and scorch the road between them and Charles. 

Zelda's curses and the stranger’s laughter chased him all the way back to town. 


	2. Chapter 2

_Letter Number 4251_

_Decrypted and transcribed to modern vernacular Hylian._

Dear Sir-

A witch. The Lady has recruited an honest-to-shadows _witch_. Gerudo-blooded, blind, and quite potentially a mindripper. I have wardpapers to last a fortnight at best, but I cannot be sure he does not circumvent them, as upon introduction he summoned lightning nearly in my face. Not in a field as Urbosa’s Favored might, but one single controlled bolt, close enough to singe my tunic.

Please advise.

-C.A.

* * *

_Letter number 4252_

_Decrypted, translated from Zonai, and transcribed to modern vernacular Hylian_

C-

Find enclosed 2 drams charged ink and ricepaper sufficient to reach Eastpost. We advise generous use of sparkshroom for the duration. You are, after all, determined to harvest good bog iron despite your natural and understandable fear of the frequent storms at your destination. Inoculate yourself against the hazards of your destination and forward reports as frequently as convenient without raising undue interest in the - efficiency - of your harvesting.

Regards,

Blademaster 1708

* * *

_Letter number 4253_

_Damaged, largely illegible_

_Fragments decrypted and transcribed to modern vernacular Hylian_

...delay, insisted on… Taobob. I respectfully … urgently request issue of friction brakes … triple length hempen… waxed… forged rescue eights insufficient to … _insane_. She personally … monster with the Sheikah boy. Four days lost - quickmarch through Oseira… doubt... reach Eastpost…

Send help-

C

* * *

_Letter number 4253_

_Damaged, partially illegible_

_Chemical analysis indicates human, chimeric, and animal blood in the obnubilating marks, and oily sparkshroom residue staining the lower third is irregular and directional, indicating a forceful spill of sparkshroom suspension._

_Fragments decrypted and translated from Zonai to modern vernacular Hylian_

C-

Find enclosed … field test [aga]inst lizal successful. Darybon supplied … webbing and hexes. 

...advise caution. Rendezvous arranged for Darybon pass. We regret … no closer, for the Lynel herds [con]trolling Zokassa and Grinnden remain hostile, and rejected suitor-stallions … erratic, aggressive. Persuade the Girl towards Stairy if possible - west Oseira slope is … observation and report of the witch’s abilities, even in the event … be … [tra]gically curtailed.

[Re]gards,

[Blade]master 1708

* * *

_Letter Number 4254_

_A curiosity in the collection, neither encrypted nor damaged beyond expected creasing from enclosure in avian carrier tubes of the era._

Re: previous

_ **YOU THINK?** _

* * *

_Letter Number 4255_

_Decrypted, translated from Zonai, and transcribed to modern vernacular Hylian_

Honored Sir-

Be advised soldier 2683 is at risk of compromised utility if not extracted by Menoat Bridge team, Highland Stable at the latest. The witch is as reported: Gerudo male, under-height for the phenotype at 253hsu _[note: indicating Hundredths of a Standard Unit, equivalent to the modern centimeter]_ but densely built at an estimated 180su _[note: an SU of weight is roughly equivalent to the modern kilogram]_. No arcane or elemental abilities observed directly, however the Girl’s party corroborates 2683’s previous reports and further assert his contributions were essential to the crossing of Oseira Plains.

A curiosity: the Girl’s retainers crafted rudimentary tack for the unbroken giant horse, consisting of quilted blanket, hackamore, and simple cinches. Nonetheless the witch does not ride astride, but torqued: his right knee folded upon the withers, his left foot resting in a single slipper-like stirrup suspended from the left side of the barrel cinch. Presumably an accommodation for his affectation of skirts over trousers, yet we advise not to underestimate his horsemanship or his apparently reciprocal bond with the beast. 

It bites.

Yours in Shadow-

4582

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For assistance with the places mentioned throughout, we recommend the following lovely interactive map (warning, not the most mobile-friendly of sites) https://www.zeldadungeon.net/breath-of-the-wild-interactive-map/


End file.
